BARNEY OLDFIELD - PICTURE POST CARD SIGNED 09/08/1934 - HFSID 171397

BARNEY OLDFIELD. Post Card Photograph inscribed and signed: "Hello John/Barney Oldfield". B/w, 3x5½ overall, image 3x3¼ (one surface). Windowed to show verso. Captioned: "Barney Oldfield, World's most famous race car driver - first man to drive an automobile a mile a minute." Quote promoting Plymouth automobiles beneath caption. Captioned at lower margin on verso: "From Chrysler Motors, 'A Century of Progress' Exposition, Chicago, 1934". Captioned at upper margin on verso: "Just had a wonderful ride with one of Barney Oldfield's drivers on the Chrysler Motors track here." Addressed to collector in Michigan (unknown hand). Stamp has been removed, postmarked Chicago, Ill., Sept 8, 1934. Record-setting automobile racer Barney Oldfield (1878-1946) signed this post card while the former daredevil was promoting the Plymouth Motor Corporation's safe-driving campaign. On June 15, 1903 at Indianapolis, the former bicycle racer had become the first man to drive a car one mile in less than one minute. Over the next 15 years, Oldfield achieved fame as he broke other speed records and performed bizarre, dangerous automobile stunts, but he was involved in several fatal accidents to spectators and his mechanic. Ironically, Oldfield became a prominent spokesman for safe driving during the 1930s and 1940s. Paper remnants on verso, removal of tape affects two words of address. Inscription slightly faded but legible. Framed in the Gallery of History style: 12¼x21½.